


your time ain't come

by Tkeyla



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-01
Updated: 2013-05-01
Packaged: 2017-12-10 03:19:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/781179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tkeyla/pseuds/Tkeyla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“That’s it,” Danny said, rounding Steve’s desk and hauling him to his feet. “We’re going to the doctor. You have had this ‘cold’ for over a week.” Danny used his free hand to make the air quotes. “We’re going to prove to you that it’s not just a cold and you need medication to get over it.”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	your time ain't come

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LiveJournal Community hawaii_50_hc abc challenge. My prompt was x-ray.

  
_If your time ain't come not even a doctor can kill you. ~American Proverb_

_~0~  
_  
Kono stopped in the door of Danny’s office, frowning over at him. “Do something,” she demanded.  
  
Danny looked up at her, waiting. As he assumed, it was only a few seconds before the deep body-wracking cough could be heard coming from Steve’s office. “What, precisely, do you expect me to do? Hog tie him and physically drag him to the doctor?”  
  
Kono frowned even more at that. “Bribe him with sex. Threaten to withhold it from him. Do whatever it is you do when you need him to do something he doesn’t want to do,” she demanded.   
  
“I’m not the boss of him, Kalakaua,” Danny reminded her.  
  
“You keep telling yourself that, brah. We all know it’s true. He knows it true,” she retorted, pointing over at Steve’s door.  
  
“Do you think I haven’t tried? Do you think I’ve enjoyed trying to sleep next to _that_ for the past three nights?” Danny demanded of her.  
  
“It’s your own fault. If you’d gotten him to the doctor already, you’d both be sleeping,” she informed him.  
  
“Fine. I’ll talk to him – again. You can’t think for one minute that I haven’t _tried_ to get him to see the doctor. But not Super SEAL. No – _I’m fine. It’s just a cold. Why are you so worked up? Must complete the mission.”  
  
_ “What mission?” Kono asked as she followed Danny to Steve’s office.  
  
“How the hell do I know?” Danny responded, pulling Steve’s door open. Steve was sitting behind his desk, a tissue pressed to his nose, one hand on his chest. When he heard the door open, he dropped both hands, looking up at them with glazed-over eyes.  
  
“You need something?” he asked, phlegm evident in each word. Danny had seen Steve at his worst, after being shot, beaten up, no sleep, no food. None of that compared to seeing him with bloodshot eyes, a bright red nose, perpetually chapped lips, and what Danny was certain were bright pink fever splotches on his cheekbones. They had been there for the past two days but Steve still insisted he was _fine_.  
  
“That’s it,” Danny said, rounding Steve’s desk and hauling him to his feet.  
  
“What? What are you doing?” Steve demanded. Attempted to demand but it mostly came out as a husky complaint.  
  
“We’re going to the doctor. You have had this ‘cold’ for over a week,” Danny said, using his free hand to make the air quotes. “We’re going to prove to you that it’s not just a cold and you need medication to get over it.”  
  
“Stop,” Steve said, batting fruitlessly at Danny’s hand gripping his forearm. “I’m fine. It’s just the sniffles.”  
  
“It is _not_ just the sniffles. You have a fever. Your nose has been running non-stop for a week. I’ve put up with your honking day and night. It hurts _me_ when you breathe,” Danny told him, dragging him toward the main door of the office. “We won’t be back,” he told Kono and Chin as they watched Danny manhandle Steve. The relief on their face was clear and heartfelt.  
  
“Of course we will,” Steve said, shaking his head. “It’s just a cold. This is a waste of time.”  
  
“It is _not_ a cold. And it is _not_ a waste of time. Now shut up and come on,” Danny said, pulling him through the door.  
  
“I’ll call the doctor’s office,” Kono said. “Warn them you are coming.”  
  
“Thank you,” Danny said over Steve’s continued protests that he did not need to see a doctor and why was everyone over-reacting? “Stop. Just stop,” Danny said as he led him to the Camaro. Danny pulled the passenger door open, waiting as Steve folded himself into the car. Danny got into the driver’s side, reaching for the box of tissues on the backseat floor. He handed them to Steve who accepted them silently.  
  
“I hate you,” Steve said as he blotted at his raw nose.  
  
“I know. It’s a burden I’ve learned to live with. And yet your hatred doesn’t stop you from wanting to have sex with me,” Danny reminded him, driving toward the medical complex that housed Steve’s doctor.   
  
“Hating you and having sex with you are not mutually exclusive,” Steve said, coughing in reaction  
  
“Shut up,” Danny requested. He responded to the ringing of his phone, putting it on speaker when he saw it was Chin calling. “Brah.”  
  
“Dr. Gartner’s office said they would fit him in as soon as you got there,” Chin said.  
  
“Good. Thanks,” Danny replied.  
  
“Keep us posted,” Kono requested.  
  
“I will,” Danny confirmed, hanging up. “You are the most stubborn, pig-headed, stubborn S.O.B. I’ve ever had the misfortune of knowing.”  
  
“You used stubborn twice,” Steve said before coughing up a lung from the sounds of it.  
  
“Hey, hey,” Danny said, patting his shoulder. “Easy big guy. Try breathing.”  
  
Steve nodded, finally able to relax against the seat, wiping the tears from his eyes that had appeared in reaction. “This sucks so hard.”  
  
“I know. It’s awful that Superman has been felled by a mere cold. Who would have guessed? It’s worse than Kryptonite,” Danny said, his voice full of mockery and pity, neither of which Steve appreciated.  
  
“I hate you so much,” Steve claimed, closing his eyes to block out the sun streaming directly into his head and making it pound it even more.  
  
“You go right on telling yourself that,” Danny said, turning into the parking lot. He found a close space, getting out and rounding the car to pull Steve out. “Come on, you big baby.”  
  
“Stop. Stop with the name calling,” Steve said, reluctantly going inside with Danny. They wound through the hallways until they got to the correct office suite, Danny going to the reception window to let them know that Steve Stubborn McGarrett had arrived.  
  
The reception laughed at Danny’s announcement, telling them Steve would be seen very shortly. Danny nodded, going over to sit next to Steve.   
  
“This is such a waste of time,” Steve said, frowning at Danny.  
  
“Not when you can’t breathe. You haven’t been eating. Neither of us have been sleeping. I’m sure you’re probably dehydrated on top of everything else. I told you to come see Dr. Gartner on Monday. But would you listen? No of course not,” Danny said.  
  
The older woman sitting a chair over from Danny reached across and put her hand on his arm. “My husband’s just the same,” she said in sympathy. “Won’t ever admit he’s sick until I make him.”  
  
Danny nodded at that, glancing over at Steve who was mostly ignoring him. “Your husband ex-military too?”  
  
“No dear. He was a school teacher. He never wanted to miss school so he thought he could lie to me. He never could.”  
  
“I know the feeling,” Danny confirmed, frowning even harder at Steve.   
  
“He’ll be fine, dear,” the woman said as she stood to join the older man who was by the main door waiting. “The stubborn ones always recover.” The man next to her winked at Danny before leaning down to hear what his wife was telling him as they left the office.  
  
“We’ll be like them one day,” Steve said, his eyes cracked part way open.  
  
“What do you mean – one day? We’re like them now,” Danny pointed out.  
  
“Except not quite so old,” Steve replied.  
  
“I doubt I’ll ever be that old. You’ll get me killed before I can age gracefully.”  
  
“It will spare you from losing your hair,” Steve said, making Danny growl at him. “Male pattern baldness. I’ve met your father.”  
  
“Shut up,” Danny retorted, ignoring Steve’s creaky laugh. “Do you want some water?” Danny asked in concern when the laughter turned into more wracking coughs.   
  
Steve nodded, struggling to breathe through the spasms in his chest.  
  
Danny got a cup of water from the cooler, helping Steve drink it when the coughing finally settled down.   
  
“Commander McGarrett,” the nurse announced.  
  
Steve stood, Danny right behind him. “You don’t need to come,” Steve said when they reached the door leading to the exam rooms.  
  
“Of course he does, Commander. We know you won’t listen to us,” the perky nurse said, smiling at Danny.  
  
“See,” Danny said. “They know you all too well here.”  
  
“Fine,” Steve said, going with her into the exam room. He followed her instructions to take off his outer shirt, leaving his blue tee shirt in place. After he was weighed, confirming that he had indeed lost five pounds, she drew blood and took his blood pressure – elevated. His temperature was 101.6. Danny decided not to gloat over it, giving him a tissue when his nose started to run once again.  
  
The preliminaries dealt with, the nurse assured them that Dr. Gartner would be with them shortly.   
  
Steve was sitting on the exam table, his feet swinging, his boot thumping against the steel of the table.  
  
“Would you sit still, for God’s sake?” Danny said from where he sat in the chair next to the table. “You are a worse patient than Grace. She knows how to act in a doctor’s office. You act like a three year old.”  
  
“You didn’t have to come back with me,” Steve pointed out with a cough. “I am perfectly capable of talking to the doctor right by myself.”  
  
“Lying to him you mean,” Danny said. “You’ve lost five pounds. Five pounds, Steven. It’s not like you have an ounce of fat on you anywhere. When was the last time you’ve eaten anything besides cough drops? Because I haven’t seen it. I made you soup and you wouldn’t even eat that.”  
  
“Shut up. I’m begging you,” Steve said, laying down on the table and flinging his arm over his eyes.  
  
“My two favorite police officers,” Dr. Gartner said as he opened the door and entered the room. He was a man of presence, at least six four with the body of a football player. His hair was still dark brown, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses. He was of an indeterminate age, kind and patient and knowledgeable.  
  
“Hi,” Danny said, standing to shake his hand, appreciating his warm firm grip even if he did tower over Danny. “Steve says it’s just a cold. He’s been sick for a week and it’s getting worse instead of better.”  
  
“Stubborn is the only word on his chart,” Dr. Gartner reminded Danny. He stood next to the table, looking down at Steve. “Why do you do this to yourself?”  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve claimed, lifting up on his elbows.  
  
“You most certainly do. Lay back down,” Dr. Gartner instructed, a hand on Steve’s shoulder. He put his stethoscope in his ears, listening to Steve’s chest. The more he listened, the more he frowned. “All right. Sit up for me,” he said, helping Steve with a warm under the nape of his neck. He listened to Steve’s back, moving the disc several times. “Take as deep a breath as you can.” Steve did it, coughing as a result. Dr. Gartner listened the entire time. Once Steve had finished coughing, the doctor put aside the stethoscope and felt underneath Steve’s chin.   
  
“Steve,” Dr. Gartner finally said, his fists on his hips.  
  
“It’s just a cold,” Steve said, coughing into his hand.  
  
“It most certainly is not,” Dr. Gartner said. “You are far too sick to have been at work. You should have come to see me much sooner. I’m almost sure you have pneumonia.”  
  
“Pneumonia,” Danny repeated in something like triumph.  
  
“Shut up,” Steve mumbled.  
  
“You’ll need an x-ray to confirm it. But there isn’t much doubt, with the fever and the congestion in your lungs.” Dr. Gartner shook his head. “You need to stay in bed for the next three to five days. _In bed_ ,” he emphasized. “Not out running. Not swimming. In bed.” The doctor glanced over at Danny who nodded.  
  
“I’ll make sure,” Danny agreed.  
  
“Okay. I’m going to give you a shot of penicillin. And a prescription for anti-biotics as well as an inhaler to ease the tightness when you breathe. I’ll also prescribe cough syrup with codeine. You need to sleep. And you need to eat.” He looked again over at Danny who nodded.  
  
“I’ve been trying to feed him,” Danny said.  
  
“I can imagine,” the doctor said in sympathy. “You can go downstairs for the x-rays. I’ll have Lisa call and let them know you are on your way.”  
  
“Okay,” Steve agreed, cowed by the firm tone of disapproval from his doctor. “I should have come sooner.”  
  
“I wish I could say I’m surprised,” Dr. Gartner said. “But with you, I never am.”  
  
“Precisely,” Danny agreed, pointing an accusatory finger at Steve. “You might try listening once in a while.”  
  
“Yes dear,” Steve said in unhappiness.  
  
“I’ll be right back with the penicillin,” Dr. Gartner said, leaving the exam room.  
  
“You are unbelievable,” Danny told Steve.  
  
“You may have mentioned that previously,” Steve said, coughing as he talked.  
  
“Next time you’ll listen to me,” Danny warned.  
  
“Sure. Next time I have pneumonia, I’ll do exactly as you say,” Steve said.  
  
“No you won’t.”  
  
“No I won’t,” Steve confirmed.   
  
Dr. Gartner returned to the exam room with the syringe at the ready. “Do you want Danny to stay?” he asked Steve.  
  
“It doesn’t matter,” Steve said with a shrug.  
  
“All right,” Dr. Gartner said, lifting the sleeve of Steve’s tee shirt and swabbing a bare patch of skin with alcohol. Certain it was prepared, Dr. Gartner gave him the injection, Steve flinching slightly when the needle penetrated his muscle.  
  
“Thank you,” Steve said when Dr. Gartner had finished the injection and wiped up the tiny spot of blood left over.  
  
“You’ll have to come back in a week. Lisa has the appointment made for 9 a.m. If your lungs are clear and your fever has broken, you’ll be able to return to work,” Dr. Gartner said firmly.  
  
“I can go back to work before then,” Steve protested.  
  
“No you cannot. If you’d taken some time off when you first got sick, you might not have pneumonia now. You will not be returning to work until you come back to see me in a week. If those x-rays are clear, you’ll be released,” the doctor repeated.  
  
“I’ll call the Governor if it comes to that,” Danny assured him. The doctor nodded in agreement before focusing back on Steve, his voice still firm.  
  
“The x-ray clinic is waiting for you. It won’t take but a few minutes then Danny can take you home and put you to bed. Where you will stay for at least the next three days,” he warned. “I find out you were out running or swimming, I will drag you personally into the hospital.”  
  
“Understood,” Steve agreed, glancing at Danny and seeing the satisfaction all over his face. “Shut up.”  
  
“I’m sorry you are stuck with him,” Dr. Gartner said with a sympathetic pat on Danny’s shoulder.  
  
“Thank you. Glad someone understands the burden that is mine to struggle under.”  
  
“I can’t hear you for the violins,” Steve claimed, easing his outer shirt back on.  
  
“I’ll show you violence,” Danny threatened as he helped Steve on with his shirt.  
  
“Violins. Not violence,” Steve corrected.  
  
“Whatever,” Danny said, helping him off the table.   
  
“Lisa will call in your prescriptions. Danny can pick them up after he has you safely home, where you will stay until you are released to return to work,” Dr. Gartner said as he walked them toward to front.  
  
“Thank you,” Danny said, pausing at the front desk. “Do we need to pay you?” he asked Lisa.  
  
“I’ll file with your insurance and bill you for the rest. I called in the prescriptions. They’ll be ready by the time you get to the Stop N Save. Here is your reminder card for next week,” she said handing it to Danny, knowing from experience that giving it to Steve would be fruitless.  
  
“Thanks,” Danny said, an arm around Steve’s waist. He seemed to be supporting more and more of Steve’s weight, Steve apparently finally acknowledging that, yes indeed, he really was sick. “Come on,” Danny said, leading Steve out of the office and toward the elevator.   
  
“We can take the stairs,” Steve said, pointing over at them as he coughed.  
  
“I am propping you up. You can’t talk without coughing. But you want to go down the steps,” Danny said with a resigned shake of his head.  
  
“I have a cold. I’m not an invalid.”  
  
“Do me a favor and just be a normal human being for the next few days. _And_ you have _pneumonia_ ,” Danny said, guiding him into the elevator.   
  
“I am a normal human being,” Steve protested.  
  
“No. NO you are not. You are the Super SEAL who thinks he can kill the germs making him sick through sheer force of will. Well you can’t. You have pneumonia. You aren’t going to get over it unless you do precisely as your doctor, and by extension me, says.”  
  
“Please stop talking,” Steve requested, going into the x-ray department when Danny had the door pulled open. “Steve McGarrett,” he told the receptionist whose name tag read Kapela.  
  
“Of course,” she said, recognizing them both from all the other x-rays they had gotten. “If you’ll come with me.”  
  
“Can you hold him up? He’s run out of steam,” Danny said to the petite woman who couldn’t possibly weigh much more than Grace.  
  
“I’m stronger than I look,” Kapela said, wrapping an arm around Steve’s waist when Danny removed his. “We won’t be long.”  
  
Danny nodded and went to sit in one of the chairs, picking up a year old magazine to peruse. He checked for any signs warning against cell phone usage before sending a quick text to Chin and Kono. They soon replied that they were not surprised that Steve had pneumonia and thank goodness for Danny. Chin had already let Governor Denning know Steve would be out for a while and that Danny would be out for at least a couple of days.  
  
 _Thanks. The doctor said he has to be out for seven days,_ Danny texted back before leafing through the out-dated, uninteresting magazine. He had barely started an article about the wedding of the year between a couple who had filed for divorce since the publication of the magazine when the door to the back opened.  
  
“Detective Williams,” Kapela said in a tone Danny recognized. It said blood would soon be spilled and it wouldn’t be hers.  
  
Danny sighed and made his way over to her. “Not so cooperative, huh?”  
  
“I’m usually much more persuasive, even with the Commander,” she said.  
  
“Sick on top of stubborn is not a good mix,” Danny acknowledged. He followed her into the x-ray room to find Steve leaning against the wall, a frown on his face. “What? What are you doing? Do you think Kapela has all day to worry about your sorry ass?” Danny demanded.  
  
“Stop yelling at me,” Steve returned as firmly as he could. “Why do I have to take off my pants? My lungs aren’t below my waist.”  
  
“Kapela?” Danny asked.  
  
“It’s not his pants. It’s what’s in them,” she explained. “Something is interfering. Plus he’s reluctant to remove his shirt. The tee shirt is fine but the outer one needs to come off.”  
  
Danny measured Steve up and down, looking at the familiar lumps and bumps in his cargoes. There was absolutely no telling what he was currently toting in those multitude of pockets. “Either empty your pockets or take off you pants.”  
  
“I don’t need an x-ray,” Steve tried.  
  
“Oh so you’re a doctor now. You know better than the man we just saw who, I don’t know, _actually went to medical school.”_ Danny stopped scowling at Steve long enough to turn to Kapela. “Would you get me a basin, please? I’ll get him to empty his pockets.”  
  
She nodded before slipping out of the room. Steve refused to meet Danny’s eyes, looking everywhere but at him.  
  
“Let’s go,” Danny said, making a come-on motion with his hands.  
  
Steve reluctantly reached into the top pockets, pulling out an array of items Danny wasn’t sure he could identify. He put each one in Danny’s cupped hands before going to the next level of pockets. Those proved to be as full as the first ones, Danny’s hands not able to hold all the items he produced. Kapela returned and gave Danny the basin which he used to hold all the assorted bits and pieces.  
  
“Lisa upstairs said he’s lost five pounds,” Danny said to her as Steve continued to slowly empty his pockets. “I’m guessing it’s more like ten.”  
  
“I’d say so,” Kapela agreed, peering cautiously into the bin. “Is that a grenade?”  
  
Danny followed her line of vision, picking up the suspicious grey item before shaking it, the rattling familiar and completely safe. “It’s filled with candy. I’m guessing he was going to give it to my daughter despite my repeated requests that he not make her into a miniature Super SEAL.”  
  
“I’m right here,” Steve said as he sat in a handy chair to reach into the lowest of his pockets.  
  
“What does that matter? You generally ignore every single word I say to you,” Danny pointed out. Steve shrugged, one hand on his knee, one on the center of his chest. “Is this it?”  
  
Steve nodded, trying hard to keep any guilt from showing on his face. Almost all of the items in the basin were perfectly safe if one disregarded the two Army knives, the various bullets of assorted calibers, and the thin wire oh-so-carefully coiled into a tight circle. Danny assumed it was the two cell phones and what was most likely a tracking device that was causing the difficulties with the x-rays.  
  
Danny sat the basin on the floor temporarily, helping Steve take off the button down he had over his tee shirt. Danny had no idea why he was refusing to remove it and simply laid it across the bin when he had it free.  
  
“I’ll be right on the other side of the door,” Danny said, a look of warning thrown to Steve before he left. Why were there two cell phones in the bin? That was a new development. All the times he’d watched Steve empty his pockets at the end of the day, he’d only seen one phone. Curious, Danny turned them both on, finding them to be identical. He was speed dial number one on both, Grace occupying the number two position. He put them both into one of his pockets, deciding this required further investigation on his part.  
  
Once Steve was cooperative, the x-rays only took a few minutes, Kapela escorting him out and turning him over to Danny’s custody.   
  
“Did you thank her?” Danny asked Steve, looking up at him with piercing blue eyes.  
  
“Thank you, Kapela,” Steve said with a smile just for her.  
  
“You’re welcome, Commander. Thank you for finally cooperating,” she said sweetly, only a little of her remaining exasperation coming through.  
  
“All right. Let’s get you home and into bed,” Danny said, a hand on Steve’s arm. This time it was more to ground him than to force him into compliance. Steve looked exhausted, worn completely out. Danny suspected that now that it was confirmed Steve actually was sick, he could no longer deny it even to himself and the pneumonia was taking its toll even more.  
  
“I’ll call Dr. Gartner as soon as they have been read. He’ll call you right afterwards,” Kapela assured Danny as she walked them out. Danny was still carrying the basin with the contents of Steve’s pockets plus Steve’s outer shirt. The fact that Steve wasn’t insisting on putting everything back into his endless pockets spoke volumes about how awful he was really feeling.  
  
“Thanks,” Danny said with a nod, leading Steve out and down the hallway to the elevator. Steve didn’t try to take the stairs, just followed Danny and leaned against the wall when the doors had closed. “You really do feel like crap, don’t you?”  
  
Steve ignored Danny’s words, allowing his eyes to close for just a minute.  
  
“Don’t fall asleep in the elevator, babe. We’ll be home in ten minutes,” Danny said.  
  
Steve nodded again, following Danny out and over to the car. He entered the Camaro without comment, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Danny called Chin and Kono to up-date them, not that there was any more particular news. Otherwise the silence was only disrupted by the coughing from the passenger seat. It hurt Danny to hear it.  
  
It wasn’t long before Danny pulled into their driveway. He helped Steve out and into the house, leading him directly upstairs. “Go potty then you’ll get into bed,” Danny instructed.  
  
“I’m not five,” Steve protested weakly.  
  
“Then stop acting like you are,” Danny requested, watching him make his slow way down the hall. Certain he would make it into the bathroom, Danny got clean sheets from the linen closet, stripping and remaking the bed with practiced ease. He had long ago lost track of the number of times he’d done this for Grace.  
  
He was putting on the clean pillowcases when Steve came back, stripped down to his jockeys. He collapsed onto the bed, coughing in reaction.  
  
“You are pitiful,” Danny said with a shake of his head. He left the bedroom, going into the Grace’s room to gather up two pillows, returning to their bedroom to find Steve in the exact same position. “Sit up a second.” Steve finally did it with Danny’s help, waiting as Danny piled the four pillow behind him. “It will help with your breathing,” Danny explained. “Now. Do you want some tea or some soup before I go get your prescriptions?”  
  
Steve shook his head and closed his eyes. “I really am sorry.”  
  
“I know, babe. You have no reason to apologize. Would you do the same for me if I was the one who was sick?” Danny asked, gently touching his forehead and shaking his head in dismay. “I won’t be longer than twenty minutes. Do you want anything special from the store?”  
  
“I don’t think so,” Steve said. “If I can get some sleep, it will help.”  
  
“The cough syrup will ease your coughing,” Danny assured him. “I won’t be long.”  
  
Steve nodded, pulling the covers up to his chin, shivering slightly.  
  
“Do you need sweats or an extra blanket?” Danny asked gently.  
  
“No. I’ll warm up in a minute. I’d warm up faster with you in bed with me,” Steve said, his cough shaking his entire body.  
  
“But then they’d be no one to get your prescriptions. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Danny assured him, kissing him gently on the forehead.  
  
Danny hurried to the store, getting his medicines. The pharmacist suggested he also purchase frozen fruit-juice popsicles. Even if Steve’s throat didn’t currently hurt, it wouldn’t be long before the drainage and constant coughing would irritate it. Danny agreed with the suggestion, picking up a box as well as some extra bottled water. He knew there was enough stored around the house for a siege but it was as easy to buy it as to find it. He added a couple of other items to his cart before paying and returning home. He could hear the coughing as soon as he entered the house.  
  
“Okay, babe. I have your cough syrup,” Danny called up the steps. He put the kettle on to heat before going upstairs. “Hey, hey,” he said, sitting next to Steve and helping him to sit up during a particularly bad coughing attack. He gave him a tissue to wipe the blood from his lips, Steve’s eyes widening when he saw the stained Kleenex. “You’ve ruptured a blood vessel, babe. It’s not serious.”  
  
“How do you know?” Steve asked hoarsely, relaxing at the news.  
  
“I’ve done it. Rachel has done it. Scary but not life threatening. I have your medicine,” Danny said, lining up the bottles on the bedside table on Steve’s side. “Here,” he said, carefully measuring out the syrup. Steve automatically opened his mouth to accept it, scowling at the taste. “Yeah. I should have had him flavor it,” Danny agreed, shaking out the anti-biotic and the Tylenol. He handed Steve the bottle of water and watched as he swallowed the pills. “Okay. Just the inhaler and you can lay back down.”  
  
Steve accepted the inhaler with a frown.  
  
“What? What’s with the _I’ll blow it up when I get a chance_ face?”  
  
“I’m not an inhaler kind of guy,” Steve tried.  
  
“No, you are not asthmatic. No you are not a 95 pound weakling. You are a trained killer with pneumonia. I promise not to tell any of your _Hooyah_ buddies that you had to use an inhaler in order to breathe while you were on death’s door.”  
  
“Death’s door?” Steve repeated, titling his head to look at Danny like he was trying to figure out what it was he was saying.  
  
“Just use it, please. It will make it easier for you to breathe. I know you can breathe under water but even you can’t breathe through the snot in your nose and lungs.”  
  
“I don’t think it’s technically snot when it’s in your lungs,” Steve said.  
  
“Shut up,” Danny said, taking the inhaler and shaking it. He held it close to Steve’s mouth, carefully inserting it when Steve started to protest. He released the medication, taking out the inhaler. “Hold your breath for at least 30 seconds.” Steve nodded, glaring at him. “You can’t kill me with your thoughts. I know you think you can but you really can’t,” Danny said, glancing down at Steve’s watch. He silently counted the seconds finally nodded. “Okay, big guy. You can breathe now.”  
  
Steve let out a puff of air, tentatively inhaling.   
  
“Well?” Danny asked, knowing the inhaler had helped.  
  
“Shut up. It’s not nice to gloat over someone as sick as I am,” Steve insisted as he lay back down.  
  
“Oh so now you admit you’re sick, when it’s to your advantage,” Danny said.  
  
“Why is the kettle whistling?” Steve asked, pulling the covers back up to his chin.  
  
“Because you are going to drink some tea before you fall asleep. I’ll be right back,” Danny said, going downstairs to fix it. Very soon, he was back upstairs with two cups of tea, one more heavily laced with honey.  
  
“Here, babe,” Danny said, again helping Steve sit to drink it. “It will help.”  
  
Steve nodded, sipping from the cup. “Mmm…”  
  
“Why do you suddenly have two cell phones? You never have before,” Danny said, taking them both out of his pocket.  
  
“Strategic redundancy,” Steve said.  
  
“Strategic redundancy,” Danny repeated, fairly certain the words made no sense.   
  
“It’s imperative to always have a back-up.”  
  
“I’m the back-up,” Danny teased. “If both phones are in your pocket, how is that helpful? You fall overboard, they are both ruined.”  
  
“There’s the one in the Camaro’s glovebox. And in my truck. In my desk drawer. Your desk drawer. Here,” Steve said, pulling one out of the bedside table drawer.  
  
“They aren’t weapons you know,” Danny said with a shake of his head.  
  
“They can be almost as important.”  
  
“There is that,” Danny agreed. “Too bad they aren’t sat phones.”  
  
“Those are coming next week. They should be there when I’m allowed back to work,” Steve said, sipping more tea.   
  
“You are something special,” Danny said.  
  
Steve just shrugged at that. “I’m done,” he said, handing Danny his half-full cup.  
  
“All right. I’ll make you some more when you wake up. Is there anything else you need before I go downstairs?” Danny asked, running his fingers through Steve’s short cropped hair, damp from the fever sweat.  
  
“I can’t think of anything,” Steve said, coughing softly. “Thank you.”  
  
“I’ll come up and check on you,” Danny promised, kissing his overly warm forehead.  
  
“I’m fine,” Steve assured him, allowing his eyes to close, comforted by Danny’s presence. “Could you stay a few? Or get in bed with me?”  
  
“I’ll wait until you’re asleep. I think you’ll sleep better without me here,” Danny said, resting a hand on Steve’s shoulder.  
  
“I never have before,” Steve said.   
  
“Go to sleep.”  
  
~o0o~  
  
Once Danny was certain Steve was in a medicinally assisted sleep, he went downstairs and called to update Chin and Kono. It wasn’t long after that that Dr. Gartner phoned with confirmation that Steve did indeed have pneumonia, as well as a hairline fracture in two of his ribs. Danny agreed with the doctor that those could be from coughing, from tackling suspects, or the combination of the two. Dr. Gartner had phoned in a prescription for Vicodan, acknowledging that the chances of Steve taking the pain reliever were not that great.  
  
Danny was working steadily on catching up with some overdue reports when he heard a hard thump and a soft grunt from the direction of their bedroom.   
  
“Steve,” he called as he made his way up the stairs. “You okay babe?” He didn’t receive a response which was a little surprising. But this was Steve after all. Surprising was really routine. “Babe?” Danny said when he got to the door of the bedroom. He peeked in, immediately stilling when he saw Steve crouched next to their bed, his gun unsteadily aimed directly at Danny. Danny was glad he’d had the foresight to remove the ammo from Steve’s gun but he couldn’t be certain that he hadn’t found a hidden stash elsewhere. He’d considered hiding the gun but knew from experience it would only agitate Steve more if he failed to find it where he always left it. “Babe. Put down the gun. It’s just me,” Danny coaxed. His hands had gone up of their own accord as Steve continued to stare at him with fevered eyes.  
  
“I don’t speak….Korean?” Danny said slowly after Steve had shouted at him in a language he couldn’t decipher. It was only a guess that it was Korean. “It’s me, Danno. Put your gun down, okay, babe?”  
  
Steve stared at him, giving him new orders in the same language. Danny stood still, watching Steve, wondering if he was going to die in his own bedroom by his boyfriend’s hand.   
  
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Steve. Can you tell me in English?” Danny requested quietly and calmly.  
  
“Hands behind your head. Interlace your fingers,” Steve finally ordered. Danny did it, watching Steve rise unsteadily to his feet. Steve approached Danny, taking the handcuffs from the top of his dresser. “Are you the one holding me prisoner?” Steve demanded as he turned Danny and pulled his hands down behind his back and snapped on the cuffs.  
  
“You aren’t being held prisoner, Steve. You have pneumonia. You have a fever and are on medication. One or both of these are giving you hallucinations,” Danny explained in a quiet, soothing voice.  
  
“I’d expect you to tell me that,” Steve said, shoving him over to the bed. “Sit,” he ordered, pointing at it with his gun. Danny sat, looking up at Steve.  
  
“Who do you think I am?” Danny asked.  
  
Steve stared at him, turning abruptly and leaving the bedroom. He closed the door, Danny hearing a key turn in the lock. Who knew the door even locked? Danny stood and backed up to the bedside table, pulling it open behind him. He fished around until he felt what he thought was one of the phones, ignoring the lube and the still full box of condoms. Dropping the phone gently on the floor, Danny used his bare toe to turn it on and speed dial Chin. He squatted over it, waiting breathlessly for Chin to pick up.  
  
“Steve?”  
  
“It’s me,” Danny said quietly. “I need you and Kono here ASAP. Steve’s hallucinating. He has me handcuffed. He has his gun but I don’t know if it’s loaded.”  
  
“Are you okay?” Kono asked, a tremor in her voice.  
  
“For now. He has me locked in our bedroom. I haven’t heard any gun shots. Come as quickly as you possibly can. Wear your vests but put a shirt on over them,” Danny instructed.  
  
“On our way,” Chin acknowledged. “Should we have an ambulance on standby?”  
  
“No. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to hurt me. But call Dr. Gartner and alert him,” Danny requested.  
  
“Copy that,” Chin agreed. “We won’t try to contact….”  
  
Danny turned the phone off with his toe as he heard the key turn, shoving the phone under the bed and sitting just as he had been when Steve left him.  
  
“Who were you talking to?” Steve demanded when he was inside the room. His forehead was coated with sweat, his chest heaving as he tried to talk, his eyes looking glassy and more than a little dangerous. There was a ring of sweat around the collar of the blue tee shirt he’d acquired from somewhere.  
  
“Talking?” Danny repeated. “I was just sitting here.”  
  
“You were talking. Where are your forces?” Steve demanded.  
  
“There’s no one here but me, babe,” Danny assured him. He watched Steve march over to him with heavy steps, prepared for it when Steve back-handed him. At least he did it without the gun in his hand. Danny allowed his body to fall backwards. “I’m not going to hurt you.”  
  
“Who are you with?” Steve barked, looking down at him.  
  
“Well, you. Otherwise it’s just me. You are no longer active in the Navy, Steve. You have pneumonia,” Danny tried.  
  
Steve glared down at Danny and shook his head. “Where are your forces?”  
  
“I don’t have any forces. It’s just me,” Danny repeated. He allowed Steve to haul him into a sitting position by pulling on the front of his shirt. Steve was licking his lips and wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “Are you thirsty? You have a fever so you probably are. Go into the bathroom and get some water.”  
  
“You are not in any position to be giving the orders,” Steve informed him.  
  
“I didn’t intend to give you orders. I was hoping to help you feel better,” Danny said evenly. “Where do you think you are?”  
  
“Classified,” Steve snapped.  
  
“No it’s not,” Danny said. “We’re at home, in Hawaii.”  
  
“Hawaii,” Steve said, licking his chapped lips. “My assignment is not Hawaii. Your forces have abducted me.”  
  
“No. You’re home. This is our house. Look around. You’ll see it’s familiar.” Danny hoped it would look familiar. Steve was becoming more and more agitated. Danny could only imagine what might be about to happen. The look on Steve’s face was feral and hardened by all the battles he’d experienced, including the one happening in his head.  
  
“This is a house,” Steve finally acknowledged, coughing and maintaining his aim at Danny. “It doesn’t look secure.”  
  
“It isn’t secure,” Danny agreed. “You are free to leave. Except you are really sick.”  
  
“Stop telling me that,” Steve ordered with a growl. “I am not sick. I am capable of incapacitating you.”  
  
“I am well aware of that,” Danny soothed. “Please get some water to drink.”  
  
“Why are you so insistent?” Steve demanded. “Is the water poisoned? Are you trying to finish me off?”  
  
“I’m trying to help you,” Danny said. “You have pneumonia. You have a fever. You are not being held prisoner.”  
  
Steve looked over his shoulder at the door standing open, apparently making a decision. “Come on,” he said, hauling Danny to his feet and forcing him to walk in front of him.   
  
“Where are we going?” Danny asked.  
  
“Quiet. You aren’t going to be able to alert your forces,” Steve said firmly.  
  
Danny sighed and went down the steps when Steve pushed him in that direction. It wasn’t easy to navigate them with Steve’s gun pressed between his shoulder blades and without his hands to balance. “Where to now?” Danny asked when they stood in the living room.   
  
“Quiet,” Steve repeated, listening. “Down.”  
  
Danny automatically ducked behind the couch when the sounds of an arriving car disrupted the quiet. He could only hope that it was Chin and Kono. If they had broken all the speed limits, it could be them arriving.  
  
“These your reinforcements?” Steve demanded, a hard hand gripping Danny’s collar.  
  
“Sort of,” Danny said, peering around Steve when the front door opened.  
  
“Hold your fire,” Chin requested. Steve jumped up, pointing his gun directly at Chin.  
  
“Down. Down on the ground,” Steve ordered.  
  
Chin went to his knees, his hands raised over his head.   
  
“Steve,” Kono said, entering the house slowly. “We’re your friends. Can you give me the gun?” Kono held out her hand, Steve studying her with less of a frown.  
  
“Why are you here? You shouldn’t be in harm’s way,” Steve said to her in a much gentler voice.  
  
“No one is harming anyone, Steve. We’re _ohana_. We’re here to help. Give me the gun, please.” She remained with her hand outstretched, watching him with warm, friendly eyes. Very slowly, he extended his hand, placing the gun on her palm. “Thank you,” she said, putting it in the back of her jeans. “Let’s get you upstairs and into the shower. You’ll feel better afterwards,” she said, taking his hand and gently guiding him upstairs. When they had disappeared, Chin finally relaxed his stance then quickly uncuffed Danny.  
  
“You okay, brah?” Chin asked him, looking him over.  
  
“Mostly, yeah. He backhanded me but it wasn’t intended to harm me.” Danny stilled and listened, hearing the sound of the shower mixed with Kono’s voice. “Thank God he listened to Kono.”  
  
“Because she’s a woman?” Chin guessed, going up the steps with Danny. Kono was standing in the open bathroom door, still talking soothingly to Steve.  
  
“I know you don’t feel well, babe. The shower is going to help,” Kono was saying.  
  
“Does he know who you are?” Chin whispered.  
  
“I don’t think so,” Kono replied in the exact same tone. “But he’s responding. Go back down.”  
  
They nodded in agreement, going back to the living room. They could hear the shower cut off, Kono coaxing Steve into fresh clothes and then into bed. “We need some cold water,” she said just a little louder.  
  
Chin got a bottle from the frig and took it upstairs, leaving it right outside the bedroom door. Kono retrieved it, making Steve drink the entire thing.   
  
“Now you can sleep,” she said, covering him with the sheet and blanket. “There. You’ll feel better when you wake.”  
  
It was a few minutes before she came down, looking wrung out. “He’s asleep.”  
  
“Did he say anything?” Danny asked in concern.  
  
“Not a word. He barely looked at me. I don’t know if he thinks I’m Catherine or his mom or…I have no idea. But he didn’t threaten me.”  
  
“Thank you,” Danny said, taking her into his arms to hug her.  
  
“ _Ohana_ , brah,” Kono reminded him with a weary smile.  
  
“Yeah,” Danny agreed, sitting on the couch with them. “What did Dr. Gartner say?”  
  
“Steve’s had codeine before so he doesn’t think that’s it. Could be the fever causing it,” Chin said.  
  
Danny nodded, taking a deep breath. “Was the gun loaded?”  
  
Kono took it out of the back of her jeans and handed it to him. Steve could have used it to kill them all.  
  
~o0o~  
  
“Danny?”  
  
Steve’s voice immediately woke Danny who slowly straightened from where he had been sleeping in the armchair. The lamp next to him cast a soft glow over the room. “Hey babe,” Danny said, crossing over to the bed to sit on the edge. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Steve said. He was sitting up in the middle of his bed, pulling the covers from over his feet. “Why am I handcuffed to the bed?”  
  
“You threatened us with your gun,” Danny said succinctly. “You thought you were in enemy territory and I was holding you prisoner.”  
  
“Oh God,” Steve said, laying back down and covering his eyes with his arm. “I thought it was a bad dream.”  
  
“Well, it was a nightmare,” Danny said, his gentle tone in contrast to the words. “But we were all awake for it.”  
  
“Chin and Kono? Are they okay?” Steve asked, lowering his arm to look up at Danny with worried eyes.  
  
“They’re fine. You listened to Kono. You thought she was Catherine maybe?” Danny guessed.  
  
“No. I’m pretty sure I knew who she was. That she wasn’t the enemy,” Steve said with an embarrassed shrug. “Are you okay?” He reached up to lightly touch the bruising on the side of Danny’s mouth.  
  
“I’m fine. You didn’t intend to hurt me. You were demonstrating who was in charge,” Danny said, holding Steve’s hand still and kissing his palm.   
  
“I’m really sorry, Danno,” Steve said.  
  
“You have no reason to apologize,” Danny assured him. “You have a fever. You didn’t hurt any of us.”  
  
“Can you release me so I can go to the bathroom?”  
  
“Of course,” Danny agreed, unlocking the handcuffs. “Do you need a hand?”  
  
Steve slowly and carefully left the bed, standing under his own steam. “I think I’m okay. What time is it?”  
  
“Hmm…” Danny said, leaning over to see the clock. “It’s 3:30.”  
  
“In the morning,” Steve said, looking toward the darkened windows.  
  
“Yeah. You’ve been asleep for almost 10 hours.”  
  
“Doesn’t feel that way,” Steve decided, making his careful way to the bathroom. It wasn’t long before he returned, his face looking freshly washed. He peeled off his tee shirt and boxers, rooting around for a clean set. “Okay,” he said when he was laying back in bed.  
  
“Okay what?” Danny asked, fussing over him.  
  
“Put the handcuffs back on,” Steve instructed.  
  
“You aren’t going to do it again,” Danny told him.  
  
“You can’t be sure, Danno. I could have killed you,” Steve said.   
  
“But you didn’t,” Danny pointed out, giving him the antibiotic and the cough syrup. He made him use the inhaler as well.  
  
“You need to make sure I can’t hurt you,” Steve insisted. “Are Chin and Kono here?”  
  
“Kono is in Grace’s room. Chin is downstairs,” Danny agreed.  
  
“You need to handcuff me to the bed,” Steve repeated. “Please.”  
  
“I really don’t believe this is necessary,” Danny said as he put it back onto Steve’s ankle.  
  
“I’ll sleep better knowing I can’t hurt you,” Steve said, turning on his side and coughing before closing his eyes. “Will you sleep with me? Please.”  
  
“All right, even though I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Danny said, slipping into his side of the bed. He turned on his side, resting a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Now go to sleep.”  
  
“Huh,” Steve responded, trying to do it.  
  
~o0o~  
  
“Rise and shine, babe,” Danny said the next day. It was almost noon and Steve had barely stirred.  
  
“Huh?” Steve grunted, finally opening his eyes to look up at Danny sitting on the edge of the bed. Chin and Kono were standing next to it, watching with worried expression. “Oh. ‘Morning.”  
  
“Nearly noon,” Danny said, putting his palm on Steve’s forehead. “You feel less hot at least. We have toast and tea.”  
  
Steve slowly nodded, finally sitting up. “You freed me,” he said in disapproval when he discovered both feet unbound.  
  
“We took a vote. You were asleep so you couldn’t veto our decision,” Kono informed him, kissing his forehead lightly. “No offense, brah. But you stink. Again.”  
  
“Yeah,” Steve had to agree. “I’m very sorry about last night,” he told them, looking them each in the eye.  
  
“You had no control over it,” Chin assured him. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”  
  
Steve finally nodded, easing his feet over the side of his bed. “I think I would like a shower.”  
  
“All right. I’ve got him,” Danny told Kono. “You got an eyeful last night.”  
  
“Jealous?” she teased.  
  
“Not when I get him all the time,” Danny said.  
  
“There is that,” she agreed, dancing out of the room before he could swat her.  
  
“Come on, big guy,” Danny said, helping Steve stand and walking him to the bathroom. Chin waited on the other side of the door, ready to be reinforcements if it came to that. “You call the Governor?” Danny asked as Steve relieved himself.   
  
“Yeah. He said we’re all to stand down as long as we need,” Chin assured them both.  
  
“Good,” Danny said, turning on the shower.  
  
“No,” Steve said, coughing and leaning against the sink. “You can go back to work. I’m not going to threaten Danny again.”  
  
“Doesn’t matter, brah. Governor said we’re to stand down,” Chin said.  
  
Steve frowned but didn’t argue further as Danny helped him out of his sweaty boxers and tee and into the shower. “You could come in,” Steve said.  
  
“Do you _need_ me to? Or do you _want_ me to?” Danny replied, sitting on the toilet lid as he waited.  
  
Steve’s only response was to cough which finally stopped. Danny pulled the curtain back to make sure Steve was still breathing.  
  
“You ready to come out?” Danny asked when he found Steve propping himself up by the shower stall.  
  
“I think I am,” Steve admitted, accepting Danny’s help out. He tried to remain still as Danny dried him, wrapping the towel around his waist as they returned to the bedroom. He sat in the chair as Kono and Chin finished stripping and making the bed. “I’m sick not dying,” he protested.  
  
“Shush,” Danny said, giving him a bottle of water.   
  
“We’re almost done,” Chin told him as he and Kono changed the pillowcases. “Now. Get back in bed. We’ll get your food.”  
  
Steve nodded, pulling on his boxers while he still sat in the chair. Danny helped him on with his tee shirt and then got him back into bed.  
  
“Dr. Gartner called,” Danny said conversationally. “He confirmed you have pneumonia. And you fractured two of your ribs.”  
  
“I know,” Steve said.  
  
“’I know’ he says. Like it happens all the time,” Danny said, shaking his head.  
  
“It does happen all the time,” Steve said with a shrug. “They’ll heal. They barely bother me.”  
  
“Chin went and got the prescription for Vicodan Dr. Gartner called in. Do you want one?”  
  
“No,” Steve said, not surprisingly.   
  
“All right,” Danny agreed, sitting on his side of the bed when Chin and Kono returned with the tray.  
  
“Is today Wednesday?” Steve asked as he accepted the tea and toast.  
  
“It is,” Chin agreed.  
  
“So today’s Gracie day,” Steve said with a smile.  
  
“Not today, babe. I told her she needed to wait until you were feeling better,” Danny said.  
  
Steve turned and looked at him, his expression wavering between angry, disappointed, unhappy, and embarrassed. “I’d never hurt Grace,” he finally said quietly.  
  
“Babe,” Danny said gently. “I called her as soon as we got home from the doctor’s office. It has nothing to do with your hallucinations.”  
  
“Really?” Steve asked, doubting the truth of it.  
  
“Really,” Chin confirmed. “He told us that he’d called Grace and explained when he gave us the diagnosis.”  
  
Steve frowned but nibbled on his toast. “Is she still coming this weekend?”  
  
“Of course she is. Try and keep her away,” Danny said with a smile. “I hear she’s made you a get well card every day since I told her you aren’t feeling well.”  
  
“Okay,” Steve agreed, sipping his tea before pausing to catch his breath. “I think I’m done.”  
  
Danny looked at the plate. There was a tiny bite out of the corner of one piece of toast, the rest of it untouched. He hadn’t eaten any of the fruit and his cup was still mostly full. “Try two more bites,” Danny coaxed. “And you need to drink all your tea. You can’t get dehydrated.”  
  
Steve frowned but took another bite, drinking more tea. It was a struggle for him to swallow the toast but he finally ate an entire piece. He kept his tea, draining the cup.  
  
“Good. Now you can go to sleep,” Danny said, returning the tray to Chin.  
  
“Are you staying up here?” Kono asked Danny as Steve lay down.  
  
“For a few minutes,” Steve answered for him, looking up at Danny with glassy, pleading eyes.  
  
“For a few minutes,” Danny agreed, laying down next to Steve as Chin and Kono left. “I’m really sorry Grace can’t come. But how much worse would you feel if you gave her pneumonia?”  
  
“It isn’t contagious,” Steve said with a cough. “If it were, you’d have it.”  
  
“There is that,” Danny said, kissing his nose. “Go to sleep, you goof.”  
  
“’Kay,” Steve agreed, letting his eyes close. Except for intermittent coughing, he went directly to sleep.  
  
~o0o~  
  
Danny was on his way home from dropping off Grace at Rachel’s house. Steve was feeling much better, Grace’s presence during the weekend helping as only she could - making Steve laugh, keeping him entertained, watching too many movies with him. Keeping him in one place was a feat only she and pneumonia could accomplish.  
  
Steve was making some noises about going back to work tomorrow even though his follow-up appointment wasn’t until Tuesday. He naturally claimed he didn’t need another set x-rays or to see Dr. Gartner again. He was over pneumonia and why couldn’t Danny just believe him?  
  
“Babe?” Danny called as he entered the house. Steve was not on the couch where Danny had left him to drive Grace home. Danny didn’t hear him upstairs, and with a frown went into the backyard. He found Steve laying in the hammock, shaded from the sun by the trees. “I’m home,” Danny announced unnecessarily when he stood beside the rope hammock.  
  
“I see that,” Steve said, smiling, his eyes still closed.  
  
“How can you see that when you’re laying there with your eyes closed?” Danny demanded.  
  
“Shhh…” Steve responded, reaching out and pulling Danny into the hammock with him. “Lay here with me and listen to the ocean.”  
  
“For a few minutes,” Danny agreed, squirming to get comfortable, snug up against the long lines of Steve’s body, a body that was no longer far too hot. No hotter that was normal, at any rate.   
  
“What do you have to do that’s more important than laying here with me?” Steve asked, pulling him closer.  
  
“Mmm…”  
  
“That’s what I thought,” Steve said, turning enough to kiss Danny’s head. “Nice.”  
  
“I’m glad you had sense enough not to lay in the sun. I know you need it to recharge your batteries like a lizard.”  
  
“A lizard,” Steve repeated.   
  
“Yes, a lizard. I’ve seen your tongue. You definitely qualify.”  
  
Steve laughed at that. “I know I can’t be in the sun while I’m still on anti-biotics.”  
  
“So you are capable of learning,” Danny said, one hand on Steve’s chest, enjoying the solid feel of him.  
  
“Yep,” Steve agreed.. “So I was thinking that…”  
  
“No. No, you are not going back to work tomorrow. You’ll go back on Tuesday after you go see Dr. Gartner – providing he clears you,” Danny said firmly.  
  
Steve sighed at that. Danny knew he was frowning without bothering to look at him. “You don’t know for sure that’s what I was going to say.”  
  
“I most certainly do,” Danny assured him. “You will stay home tomorrow and Tuesday we will go see Dr. Gartner. Then and only then will you be coming to work.”  
  
“You don’t need to take me the doctor’s office. I can go by myself,” Steve told him.  
  
“You are capable, sure. But I don’t trust you to actually go. Or to tell me the truth about what he says. No sir. I’ll be taking you to see the good doctor, and for your second set of x-rays.”  
  
“Mmm…” Steve sighed, deciding not to fight the reality of it any longer. “It’s a wonder I don’t glow considering the number of x-rays I’ve had.”  
  
“Plus all the sunlight you absorb. You are radioactive _and_ solar powered,” Danny told him.  
  
“Solar powered,” Steve laughed. “I’m a solar powered, radioactive lizard.”  
  
“Yep,” Danny agreed.  
  
“Good thing you love me. I can only imagine what you would call me if you didn’t,” Steve said with a laugh. Danny smiled to himself when it didn’t make Steve cough, a vast improvement over the past week.  
  
“You don’t want to know,” Danny confirmed.  
  
“Speaking of loving me,” Steve said, turning more on his side. “It’s been over a week since we’ve done the horizontal tango.”  
  
“Stop. Stop with the octopus arms,” Danny protested, trying to prevent Steve from unbuttoning his shirt. “Horizontal tango is something else we aren’t doing until Dr. Gartner says it’s okay.”  
  
“We are not discussing our sex lives with him,” Steve said, reaching for the fly of Danny’s shorts.  
  
“Stop. Stop right now,” Danny said. “You haven’t been cleared for active duty. And that includes bedroom duty.”  
  
“We aren’t in the bedroom, are we?” Steve said. He even had the nerve to wink at Danny.  
  
“You are such a juvenile.”  
  
“There you go with the name calling again,” Steve said, leaning over enough to kiss Danny silent. “All you have to do is lay there. I’ll take care of the rest.”  
  
“You are incorrigible,” Danny said with a laugh, finally giving up. If Steve felt well enough to kiss him, it seemed silly to protest. So he decided not to. What better way to celebrate Steve’s recovery than with the horizontal tango? They just wouldn’t mention it to Dr. Gartner. He never had to know.


End file.
